We here at Camp Kesem Augustana hope you are enjoying this summer weather! Augustana College is out for the summer which means Camp Kesem business is moving right along. We are getting incredibly close to fundraising our goal of $45,000 in order to make camp possible and want to thank everyone who came out to our first annual Make the Magic fundraising event on April 27^th. The attendees certainly helped us make the magic and get even closer to making camp happen.

In other updates, Camp Kesem Augustana currently has 9 open camper spots for this year’s camp. If you or anyone you know has a child ages 6 to 16 with a parent who currently has, has previously had, or has passed away from cancer and would like to come to our camp, please visit our website at http://campkesem.org/augustana/campers to register for the week. Camper spots are given on a first-come, first-serve basis, so apply now!

In other good news, the camp schedule is complete! This year, campers have a huge list of activities to look forward to including archery, rock climbing, and a low ropes course!

Finally, we wanted to give a huge round of thanks to everyone who helped us in our search to find a nurse and mental health professional for camp. Both positions have been filled!

All in all, we here at Camp Kesem Augustana are getting excited about camp and hope you are too! Keep spreading the word about Camp Kesem and we’ll see you in July!

Until next time,

Sparrow

“Laughter can be hard to come by when a family is struck by cancer,” said Chief Executive Officer of Camp Kesem National Jane Saccaro. “At Kesem, we provide laughs even during hard times, so we decided to share that joy and spread the word about Camp Kesem this Mother’s and Father’s Day with our Give a Laugh contest.”

The contest calls for people of all ages to submit video clips of their best laugh from May 12, Mother’s Day, until June 2. Camp Kesem will then select the top five to ten videos and open up voting to the public through Facebook and their website for the best laugh from June 3 to June 14. The laughs sent in will also become a part of their Mother’s and Father’s Day card collection for 2014. The winner (who will receive 12 Giordano’s world famous Chicago pizza packages of two pizzas each, for a total of 24 pizzas (winner’s choice of ingredients – one pizza package each month, for 12 consecutive months), from Giordano’s nationwide frozen pizza program) will be revealed on Father’s Day, June 16 when the final video will be tweeted and posted by celebrities, shared on YouTube and played at national Camp Kesem and partner events. For more information, visit http://goo.gl/vwsKZ or campkesem.org.

Camp Name:  Pixie

Hometown:  Hartford, WI

Year in School:  Junior

Major(s)/Minor(s): Biology Major

 How did you hear about Camp Kesem?
I heard about Camp Kesem through a wonderful friend, Blondie! She told me how magical camp was and I knew immediately that I wanted to sign up for this amazing organization!

What is the meaning behind your camp name?
            I had a difficult time coming up with my camp name, and then one night my roommate thought I would be a good Pixie.  Peter Pan is a great movie! 

What are you most looking forward to about next summer’s Camp Kesem?
            Next summer is going to be an adventure! I can’t wait to see all of the kids from last year, and I’m super excited to meet the new campers!

If your life was a camp theme day what would it be?
            If my life was a theme day I would want it to be Under the Sea. Dressing up as a mermaid and the great activities associated with that day from last year made it my favorite day!

Explain your position in Camp Kesem. What role do you have?
I am on the exec board for Camp Kesem, and I am a Student Support Coordinator.  What that entails is that I get to find and pick out new counselors for summer as well as making sure all of the counselors have their training for camp.

Why do you CK?
Camp Kesem has been the most amazing experience I have had in college.  I am so blessed that I had the awesome experience to be a part of this wonderful organization! Getting to be with the children at camp is the best gift I can get, and watching them grow as the week progresses is the best experience!

Favorites:

Favorite camp activity: Talent Show!

 Favorite camp song: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH there one was a Wizard!!!

Favorite memory from Camp Kesem:
The Ho Down dance party we had last year was my favorite memory!

To say that this year’s Make the Magic event was a success would be an understatement.   This was the 3^rd Annual Make the Magic for CKUW! First of all we would like to send out a HUGE thank you to everyone to attended the event, we had a sold out show!  And another HUGE thank you to our amazing donors, this event would not have been possible without you!

The night started out with bidding on silent auction items and a fabulous performance by Redefined, an A Cappella  group on campus!

After the performances we were welcomed to the event by one of the Magic the Magic coordinators, Peaches, then it was time for dinner.  We had a great time socializing with old friends and with new people who had never experienced the magic before.  After dinner, it was presentation time.  To start us off Nemo, the other Make the Magic coordinator told her Kesem story.  After that Sunshine spoke about both the National Camp Kesem and Wisconsin chapter Impact.  In addition we had two camper parents, one teen camper, and three youth campers speak.  The last speaker was Pocket, our CEO of Camp Kesem, she did an amazing job sharing her story and closing out the night.  Some of their speeches made us laugh, all made us cry, but most importantly they all showed us the true magic of Camp Kesem.

After the program was complete there were last minute battles for the silent auction items and then the night was over.

From the event and the days that followed we have been completely blown away but the amount of money that this event raised.  The final count for the event was…drum roll please…$19,470!!!! This is enough money to send 41 of our campers to camp this summer!   Once again thank you, thank you, thank you for everyone who helped make such a success!  The last HUGE thank you goes out to Nemo and Peaches, thank you for planning and hosting the best Make the Magic yet!

Peaches and Nemo, our amazing Make the Magic Coordinators	Redefined, the A Cappella group that performed	Punkin, Bubba and Luigi before they gave their speeches

It may sound cheesy, but the day could not have been more perfect. Even at the (far too early?) meet-up time of precisely 8:37 a.m. in Ackerman turnaround, the sun was radiating warm and friendly rays, a foreshadowing of the exultance to come in the next twenty-four hours. Tired counselors milled around until our car assignments were read, and we were off. In my personal opinion, the car ride may be one of the most fun parts of retreat. You are paired with about 4-5 other people and usually know only one person at the beginning of the ride and in the short hour and a half it takes to get to retreat, you have three new, amazing friends. Part of the reason this car bonding is so quick may be because each group is assigned to make up an introduction song by the time we arrive at retreat location. Let me tell you- there is never a lack of ridiculousness or wittiness with these skits and songs (just another reaffirmation of why we picked each and every counselor), and as we arrived at the beautiful Laguna Niguel beachfront this was in full force. After setting the mood for a goofy and carefree day to follow, we went straight into “speed dating,” wherein counselors rotate in two circles and chat with one another about random topics for about 2 minutes each. This is always a fun way to learn names and random facts about each other that will invariably never leave your minds (you’ll always remember that counselor X has a paralyzing fear of cats).

This game was quickly segued into a myriad of fun and fast-paced beach activities, like the meltdown carnival, birdie on a perch, tie-dying tanks, 2 minute life stories, camp songs, and the “step forward” game. The whole rest of the afternoon was a blur of both serious and silly sentiments, a Kesem trademark. Perhaps the funniest part of our beach shenanigans was that people would stop and just watch whatever activity we were doing, even film or take pictures of us, especially when Gumby led an extremely loud and goofy version of the “Oomba Oomba” song. Some random strangers even asked why we were there, and amidst scrounging around the beach for 19 pennies or blowing up beach balls, we were able to share our cause and story with others. Shortly after an extremely rare ocean rendition of the camp song “Penguins Attention,” the sun dropped below the horizon and we headed off to dinner at a retro 50’s diner called Ruby’s. The camaraderie was tangible, even stronger that just a few hours earlier. After our stomachs were happily full of hamburgers and milkshakes, the mood began to mellow as we ventured off to our overnight houses. Once we arrived at the quaint golf course lodging, we all gathered in a room and did a relaxing meditation period, letting our minds calm down from the festivities of the day and wander to an open, free space. We then answered some personal questions on paper like what our greatest fears were, continuing to let our thoughts spill out onto the paper. This spilled over perfectly into our first cabin chat, with each group having half new and half returning counselors, taking the personal questions to a group setting. I was thoroughly impressed with how open and supportive my group was, sensing the Kesem magic seeping into the room with each new shared story. It would only seem appropriate after all of the bonding throughout the day to welcome the new counselors officially into the Kesem family through initiation. After all was said and done for the day, moon and stars scattered across the sky like a protective blanket overhead, standing arm-in-arm in a circle with 70 new best friends felt like the only place I wanted to be in the world.

“You filled my cup ‘til it overflowed; ‘til it overflowed with love.”

Carl takes a ride with Pumba to recruit more campers!